The lady from the gift registry department at HBC (the Bay) called this week while I was at work. Jeremy answered, and when she said who she was, he told her he was the fiancé. Apparently, she was delighted, and said we were the first male couple to register at the downtown Montreal Bay store.
So we’re going in on Sunday to meet with her and figure out what our “needs” are. I guess that’s when we go around with the little bar code gun thingie and scan all the things we want. Hilarious!
They have a great housewares department. Any suggestions aside from the usual dishes, flatware, appliances, linens…?
This is gonna be fun. I have to pick out a cute outfit.
My brother and sister-in-law registered for a basketball hoop and a dog bed.
Make sure you look over all of the cool kitchen gadgets - and don’t hesitate to register for expensive things. Someone bought my bro that really expensive KitchenAid mixer (he’s a professional chef, so he had a reason for wanting it), something no one in the family thought he would get. And there are cool things like quesadilla makers and smoothie makers now. It’s YOUR wedding and you are allowed to register for whatever you want:).
(I get to start doing this next year. I can’t wait. Keep us updated on how it goes! And congratulations to you! I just found out that one of my very best friends in the world is having a commitment ceremony with her girlfriend and I’m so happy for her…I just wish they could make it legal.)
I second the Kitchen Aid mixer…My husband and I have a red one. Even if you never cook it looks tres cool on the kitchen counter…Oh, and an ice cream maker! Oh, and I don’t know if this store has fine linens, but you need a proper, white linen table cloth with matching napkins…
Remember to register for less expensive gifts as well. Kitchen towels, hot pads, casual dishes, towels. I was a guest a a wedding once where the cheapest thing on the registry was $120 a place setting dishes, and I had a $50 budget.
What Dangerosa said. For my mother’s favorite cousin’s daughter, I ended up going in with my mother on two cups and saucers of her “everyday” china, which cost $75. This was over 20 years ago. Talk about ridiculous. My share of the gift was two weeks’ grocery money for me. I did NOT appreciate that that was the single cheapest thing on her registry.
Pick some fun and different things that aren’t necessarily expensive. And if you have friends you know are on a budget, encourage them, if they’re gift-minded, to give you something special and meaningful that isn’t necessarily expensive and isn’t necessarily on your registry. One of the nicest gifts I’ve gotten in recent years was from my sister – she took a cute photo of us as children, had it enlarged, and put it in a pretty frame. It probably didn’t cost her over $10, but it has the pride of place on my buffet.
So is there an open invitation to all Dopers to come to your Big Fab Gay Wedding®???
A third on some less expensive things. Lemme think— bathtub organizer thingy, CD/Cassette holder-- damn, I can’t think of inexpensive gifts. I always wanted one of those vacuum sealers.
Wedding gifts are hard now a days. Most couples have been living together for a while and presumably have the basics to set up a household. Now is the time for those little (and bigger luxury thingys.) The truth is that the best gifts you will get won’t come from the registry. I think my favorite was a mantle clock. It came from my uncle and was meant to remind me of my grandmother’s mantle clock. My uncle was giving me a present from him and from her, telling me how happy she would have been for me. I still smile when I look at it, and there is no way I would have even thought of it, and it wouldn’t have meant as much if I had asked for it. That all said there are some nice things that I never quite bring myself to buy that can be nice little luxuries. A couple of times when I had to do wedding gifts on a budget i shopped in a kitchen store and made a basket of assorted doohickys. You can make the basket a serving basket and line it with a tea towel.
Those silicone spatula thingys are wonderful. (They come in nice colors and you can ask for ones that match your kitchen, or mix and match. I have a couple and would use many more.
Tea towels. It is not possible to have too many.
A really really good kitchen timer.
a kitchen scale (this is good for dieting, but also some recipes are writen by weight)
The full assortment of Pyrex measuring cups.
Measuring spoons ( a couple sets is always nice to have if you go on a cooking spree)
Pizza cutter.
Icecream scoop (have to have something for that icecream maker.)
My other favorite gift can’t be done at HBC but you could maybe leave a Penzeyscatolog lying about your home for your friends to get the hint.
I seriously have no idea what you saying here. I think you may be calling my husband a woman and me a man. 'Cause my husband is always complaining about me throwing away perfectly good food.
And I honestly wasn’t thinking about using the vacuum on food. I ain’t gonna tell you what I was thinking of using it on, so don’t ask.
